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Memorial Hermann Heart & Vascular Institute-Texas Medical Center From the moment a blood clot forms and a patient experiences the first symptom of a heart attack, a race against time begins. With each minute that passes, the heart muscle is progressively damaged and the patient’s condition worsens. While the damage cannot be reversed, it can be reduced through the quick restoration of blood flow – or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Hospitals across the nation measure their time to PCI as a significant indicator of quality outcomes. According to the American Heart Association, hospitals that consistently restore blood flow to damaged hearts in 90 minutes or less have the best prognosis among patients. At Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center, physicians and hospital leadership have introduced a collaborative approach that has reduced its average time to PCI to among the lowest in the nation and the lowest of any hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center is a Cycle II Accredited Chest Pain Center with Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) as designated by the Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC). PCI is a treatment that unblocks narrowed coronary arteries without performing surgery. The PCI designation is given when a hospital can prove it has all the necessary tools and expertise to clear blockages in a timely fashion. Accredited Chest Pain Centers undergo a rigorous evaluation process by the SCPC based on their ability to assess, diagnose, and treat patients quickly and effectively. Currently there are less than 400 accredited chest pain centers, only representing 10% of United States hospital.
Working in partnership with EMS, emergency physicians, cardiologists and critical care nurses, a Chest Pain Center’s goal is to shorten the time from a patient’s initial cardiac symptoms to treatment. Accredited Chest Pain Centers have been found to reduce the mortality rates of patients suffering from chest pain through a very specific protocol-driven and systematic approach which allows physicians to: - Treat patients more quickly during the critical early stages of heart attack, when treatments are most effective
- Better monitor patients when it’s not clear whether they are having a coronary event, which ensures that patients are not sent home too early or needlessly admitted
Treatment Now, patients suffering from a heart attack begin receiving treatment in the field by the Houston Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services team. Through the program, paramedics perform an electrocardiogram and send the results directly to our emergency center physician. If the patient is suffering from a heart attack, the physician writes an order to administer a half dose of clot-dissolving drugs and our on-call cardiac team is paged to report to the cardiac catheterization lab. Once the patient arrives, the team quickly inserts and inflates a balloon inside the blocked artery. Blood is restored to the heart within 63 minutes, on average.
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